-- Your anthropomorphization of the dog is much more extreme than merely attributing a desire to help the girl. --
Now that's a good three dollar word, anthropomorphization. Are you sure my remark was somehow attributing human qualities to the dog? I meant it to be the opposite of that.
-- Dogs are very empathetic toward their people. --
Yes. I know. I have a dog in my pack - or he has me in his. And he does look out.
I honestly don't have a clue why the dog slapped the girl on the back. Maybe he thought she was playing, maybe he knew she was in distress (but I doubt he was trained to know how to dislodge food from a choking person's throat).
Attributing the dog's reaction as being solely food driven wasn't a serious conjecture on my part, except the part about dogs being food driven generally.
choking does not bring you to the floor...
In my 70 years...have never seen that....
I believe this "story" first appeared in a dog magazine.